F1's year of 2013 starts here as Lotus win the race to unveil new look first

Even though the interminable distance of 47 days still separates F1 from its first port of call for the 2013 season, tonight's unveiling of the new Lotus E21 will, for many, mark the unofficial start of the F1 year.

Yet for all the intrigue and interest surrounding the Lotus launch, the backdrop of tonight's unveiling is one of growing uncertainty and unease about the future of F1, both in the long term and the short term. The Concorde Agreement - the contract which binds the teams to the sport -is still not signed; a situation which is unlikely to change before the start of the new campaign. While the news has been greeted with widespread indifference, it is of immediate concern to Lotus team boss Eric Boullier. "We are still lacking some protection over the future of the sport. If you are building a business over a period of time you need some stability or some guarantee. We have part of it thanks to the Bernie agreement. As a private organisation we obviously would like to see more security over the future," the Enstone Team Principal recently admitted. Meanwhile, despite the increasingly-close proximity of winter testing, as many as four race seats are still yet to be officially confirmed following the sudden exit of Timo Glock from Marussia and the continuing reluctance of Caterham and Force India to confirm their 2013 line-up. While those decisions will have to be announced long before F1 traverses the globe en route to Melbourne, it also seems increasingly likely that the season will start without a confirmed calendar. The much-discussed mooted inclusion of a 20th race has now given way to the question of whether the German GP (moved back to July 7th in order to accommodate a replacement for the Valencia GP) will be held at all after Bernie Ecclestone cast fresh doubt on the wherewithal of the Nurburgring to stage the event. While it seems inconceivable that a solution will not be found, the Nurburgring's predicament and Glock's financially-influenced departure from Marussia are sharp reminders that even F1, for all its glitz and glamour, is far from immune to Europe's ongoing monetary crisis. Money (or a lack of it) is talking loudly, and the prospect of the sport holding just a single grand prix - the British - between June 10 and July 28 will have alarm bells ringing. Plenty of questions, then, but as of 7.15pm tonight, the good news is that F1 will, to everyone's relief, start unveiling a few answers. 2013 car launches schedule
Lotus - January 28th, Enstone.
McLaren - January 31st, Woking.
Force India - February 1st, Silverstone.
Ferrari - February 1st, Maranello.
Sauber - February 2nd, Hinwil.
Red Bull - February 3rd, Milton Keynes.
Mercedes - February 4th, Jerez.
Toro Rosso - February 4th, Jerez.
Caterham - February 5th, Jerez.
Williams - February 19th, Barcelona. PG